some polka dots i spotted...

I've always loved pretty prints. On notebooks and on wrapping paper. On clothes too, but I have to admit that not all pretty prints look good when worn lest you want to look like upholstery. On pillows like the Bungalow 300 ones that Trisha of Playtime Break posted about here and on bed linens (baby or otherwise)  like Trisha's Dwell Studio picks here. But after watching this video, I found another item in my house I'd like to have pretty prints on: tea towels!

I never knew what tea towels were until I saw the video of 12 ways to use a tea towel. I'm not even sure what their original use is, but I love all these uses. First up is a place to drip-dry cups & glasses.

Use #2: a cushion for food preparation.

Use #3: a towel to wipe newly-washed dishes & glasses dry.

Use #4: as a pot (-er, kettle) holder.

Use #5: as a vegetable crisper. Except this use is lost on me since I am so undomesticated.

Use #6: not sure if this is technically a usage option. Though I have to say, I find this bunch of printed tea towels so pretty, I might store some like this just to prettify my kitchen!

Use #7: as a placemat.

Use #8: as a pretty way to serve bread.

Use #9: as an apron.

Use #10: as a gift wrapper.

Use #11: as a gift.

Use #12: as an environmental way to dry your hands.

Polka dots or not, I looove these studiopatro tea towels in pretty prints! If only Bungalow 300 and Dwell Studio made tea towels...

Photos are from screencaps of the video.

Click here for previous posts from the Some Polka Dots I Spotted... series.

sea fairies

My favorite part of Manila Ocean Park is the attraction called Jellies. I didn't see such an attraction on our last trip to Ocean Park in Hong Kong. But maybe because that was so long ago (2004) coz I checked their site and they have the exact same thing now. Anyway, in the Manila theme park, I initially thought it was the novelty, the uniqueness, that attracted me to Jellies. But while writing this post, I realized there was something innately captivating about this attraction.

These translucent sea creatures in different colors were fascinatingly beautiful.

I quite liked the visual effect of the changing lights (I sure hope the lights aren't bad for them because I can't imagine having colored light in their natural habitat) and how the jellyfish semed to glow in blue light,

red light,

green light,

purple light,

and again, in blue light - this time with both Noah & Isabella posing in front of the jellyfish.

But when I got past the lights, I noticed how gracefully the jellyfish moved around in the water. They fluttered around the glass tank like elegant ballerinas. Probably because of their fluid movement and their glowing, translucent bodies - that I guess reminded me of fairy wings, I started to think of them as sea fairies.

Here's Isabella watching them so intently.

It was relaxing to watch them dance so gracefully. 

Indeed, the jellyfish exhibit was quite an enchanting sight.

Manila Ocean Park

Luneta, Manila

(632) 567-7777

Admission to Jellies is P150 per head (free for children 2 feet & below).

Monday to Friday: 10am - 7pm

Saturday, Sunday & Holidays: 9am - 7pm

No more tickets sold after 630pm

We've gone to Manila Ocean Park 3 times since it opened. There were busloads of people in the big lobby on both our weekday and weekend trips (probably scheduled field trips). Despite the crowd outside, the Oceanarium and the Jellies exhibit were not as filled up as I expected. Not empty, but not suffocatingly full.

Photos are my own and from heritage.  

super paper powers

Remember in my Tribute to Summer here, I promised to write a post about Noah creating handmade magic over the summer? Well, he did display a very specific super-power: a power over paper. After watching The Avengers movie here, he made costumes out of paper. Admittedly, Isabella helped him with his Ironman mask.

But he made the gloves himself with paper, crayons and oddly, some electric tape in his art bucket.

A week later, Noah made his paper Captain America costume.

Still with crayons and the stray electric tape...

Then later that night, he made Thor's hammer out of a leftover carton and the Tesseract out of paper.

The following night, he made Hawkeye's bow and arrow.

This time, he also used popsicle sticks and yarn.

Then my friend gave him a non-minimalist poster of The Avengers and he insisted on dressing up in his paper costumes and posed in front of the movie poster.

I love how he imitated each hero's pose... Which led to the need to make Nick Fury's eyepatch (with Isabella's help) at 11pm. Oh, he refused to sleep without a Nick Fury photo.

The following day, he made Hulk...

... and completed The Avengers. All out of... paper!

Yes, Noah certainly displayed super paper powers this past summer.

Photos are my own, edited via pixlr, and from here.

Today, I am loving...

Summer is really over. The rainy season is here again. As you know from here, I've been unperturbed by the rain since I got my Plueys rainboots. I used to hate the rain for getting my feet (& shoes) wet & muddy. But now, with my Plueys, I feel invincible in the rain! I delight in the idea of being able to stomp in puddles if I wanted to. I don't think I've ever done that, but gone are the days of walking slowly and on tiptoe to keep the wet feet or shoes to a minimum. Now, I don't just live with the rain, I actually look forward to it. So today, I am loving... that it's the season of rainboots once again.

I've always been a lover of prints. So part of the happiness of wearing rainboots is the fun print accent that my Plueys give to my work outfit. But for a while now, I've been obsessing over these solid-colored Hunters.

I don't know if it's because I find the woman so attractive and so long & lean. I also really like the matte gray-green color and wouldn't mind it in a matte grayish navy color either. Plus, solid-colored Hunters might allow me to wear my rainboots all day at work (because I change out of my printed Plueys to my regular shoes when I get to my cubicle. The prints don't seem office-appropriate.). After all, I see a lot of foreign celebrities sporting Hunters even when it doesn't seem like it's raining - like one of the Olsen twins here.

And if the quirky Aquarian in me gets tired of solid Wellies, maybe I can draw on them with a Sharpie like Jo did (remember Jo's inky Starbucks cups here?).

Awesome, right? She tested it by standing in the bath to make sure the ink doesn't run. So it's really possible! :)

Print or no print -- today, I am loving... that it's the season of rainboots once again!

Photos from annnniegirl, acupofjo, here and here.

Click here for the down-in-the-dots version of this post - why despite the obsession above, I cannot buy another pair of rainboots. Click here for previous posts from the Today, I Am Loving... series.

Lego Tales: Noah's Toy Story Minifigs

We got Noah this Lego Toy Story 3 train set two Christmases ago (Christmas 2010). As you can see, he's got the real Lego minifigs of Rex, Woody, Buzz, Jessie and Bullseye.

But just a month later (January 2011), he decided to make his own Toy Story mini-figures out of Lego bricks!

I could not fathom why he would make minifigs out of Lego bricks when he had the actual ones.

Then again, maybe I shouldn't have been surprised. Because more than 2 years ago, even though he had an actual Buzz Lightyear costume...

... He still begged Isabella to make him Andy's cardboard box Buzz costume.

He drew the purple stripes himself with his crayon.

And played pretend-Buzz (or was it pretend-Andy?) for hours after.

I have to say that I love how Toy Story creations made out of cardboard and Lego bricks can bring just as much joy as the real thing!

Photos are mostly my own edited with pixlr except for the one from here and the Toy Story backgrounds on the pages of one of Noah's scrapbooks. I never meant for the scrapbook pages to get published so I didn't take note of the source. If you know where it's from, please email me so I can give due credit.

Click here for previous posts from the Lego Tales series. Click here for the down-in-the-dots version of this post.